A study of the striped bass in the marine district of new york state

Socrates, Julia

This report is a final summarization of the data collected during the field season which concluded during October of the September 1, 2005 - August 31, 2006 time span of the Anadromous Fish Conservation Act Grant # NA05NMF4051085, as well as a comparison to the previous twenty years. Job 2: The 2005 Western Long Island Beach Seine Survey captured 1,213 striped bass in 174 seine hauls from May through October. Striped bass ranged in size from 21 to 931 mm total length (TL), and in age from zero to fourteen. Young-of-the-year (YOY) dominated, accounting for 34.1 % of the catch, followed closely by two-year olds (31.5%). This resulted in an increase in the WLI YOY index (2.43 fish/haul) from the 2004 value (0.39 fish/haul), although it still remained below the twenty-two year average (3.50 fish/haul). Meanwhile, the 2005 WLI Yearling index (0.64 fish/haul) decreased from the 2004 value (2.41 fishlhaul), dropping below the 22-year average (1.29 fish/haul). Yearling striped bass accounted for 21.3% of the 2005 striped bass catch. Five hundred ninety-three striped bass were tagged and released during the 2005 efforts. These bass ranged in age from 0 to 14, and in size from 170 to 931 mm TL. One thousand one hundred fifty-two tagged striped bass have been recaptured at least once since 1987. Hook and line was the dominant recapture gear (89%). The majority of the recaptures were released alive (86%). Survival rates were estimated using a model, which incorporates time and age specific survival and reporting rates for ages 1, 2, and older striped bass; survival rates increased sequentially by age. Job 1: An Investigation of the Hudson River Striped Bass Spawning Success, was subcontracted to Dr. David Conover at the Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York at Stony Brook, with funding through the Hudson River Estuary Program. The 2005 Hudson River YOY index (8.48 fish/haul) decreased slightly from the 2004 value (8.81 fish/haul), and remained below the 26-year average (13.87 fish/haul). NYS DEC had close oversight of the survey, and the resulting report is attached.